


As I Look In Your Eyes

by Rachel_Lu



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Falling In Love, First Kiss, Fluff, Hugs, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-12
Updated: 2018-01-12
Packaged: 2019-02-14 01:18:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12996696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rachel_Lu/pseuds/Rachel_Lu
Summary: Rose Tyler is certain her soulmate doesn't exist. One of her eyes matches her soulmate's, like everybody else, but hers is always changing, and she can't quite figure out why





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> mmmmmmmmSURPRISE!!!!! This is for @magewriter for Secret Santa!!!! happy holidays, lovely! This will be two or three fluffy chapters, and I really hope you enjoy.

The first time her eye changed, she was five years old.  Her right eye lit up dark blue.  She stared at it in the mirror and ran out to her mother, terrified. 

“Mummy, my  _ eye!”  _ Rose cried, pointing at it, where tears were welling up.  

Jackie Tyler bent down and framed her daughter’s little face. “Oh, sweetheart,” She smiled, “This means you have a soulmate.”

Rose blinked, “What?”

“It means you have a very special someone, and when you meet him, you’ll know it’s him because his eye will be the color of yours.”

“Did we switch eyes?” The little girl asked, furrowing her brows. 

Jackie bit her lip and shook her head.  “No, love, not at all.  You just share an eye color, that’s all.  It’s absolutely nothing to worry about.”

**************

Rose’s friends at school were absolutely in awe of her eye, and oohed and ahhed over it.  Rose was quite happy with it as well.  She was quite proud of it, and when she went home from school she would look at it in the mirror and smile, knowing that somewhere in the world, there was a man who had that same eye color, and one with her color, too.

Then one day, her eye changed. 

“Mum!”  Fourteen year old Rose Tyler ran to her mum, just like she had when she was a young girl.  “What happened?”

Her eye was green now, instead of its original blue.  She was absolutely terrified by it.  What on  _ Earth  _ could make it change?  Had her soulmate died?  What was the purpose of any of that? Rose decided that the universe was very unkind to her to kill her soulmate.

Jackie bent down in front of her daughter and took her face in her hands.  “Oh, love, that’s odd,” She said, furrowing her brows.  “Maybe your soulmate has some sort of disorder?”  
“It doesn’t mean he’s dead?” Rose asked softly.  

“No,” Jackie shook her head, “If he was dead, your eye would just go back to brown, sweetheart. So there’s just something… Unique about your soulmate,” she smiled at her daughter, trying to reassure her even though Jackie wasn’t sure herself what was going on.  She’d never seen anything like it, and she was fairly certain that none of her friends had experienced it either.  Rose didn’t need to know that, though, she didn’t need a fretting mother.  She smiled at Rose and patted her cheeks. “It’s all going to be alright,” 

Rose nodded, believing her mother.  “When am I going to meet him?”

“That’s hard to say, love.”

Her eye color fluctuated from then on, and Rose never even knew what to look for in a soulmate.  She wasn’t even sure i there was a specific eye color that she could look for, since hers changed all the time.  Sometimes it would revert back to colors it had been before, and other times it would turn a new shade of green or brown.  

All her friends thought it was  a bit weird too, and she was the subject of conversation much of the time at lunch. 

“Lemme see it,” Shireen grabbed her by the face and turned her head. 

“Green,” Rose said, looking at her friend, “I looked this morning.”

“Nah, ‘s hazel now,” Shireen shook her head. “Why’s it do that?”

Rose frowned. “I told you, I don’t know, but it sure is frustrating.”

“Well, at least yours isn’t like mine,” Mickey said, putting his chin in his hand, “My soulmate’s eyes are just a little bit lighter than mine. Her eyes are brown too.  How am I ever going to find her?”  
“You’ll know,” Keisha said, ever the romantic of the group. She smiled dreamily at the thought.. “You’ll look at her, Micks, and be like: ‘oh, it’s you!  I’ve been waiting for you all this time!  Won’t that be absolutely brilliant?’”

Mickey scowled at her, not accepting her romantic notions for even a moment.  He shook his head.  “I doubt it, Keish.”

“Well you never know,” Keisha grumbled.  “I can’t wait to see who Rose’s soul mate is gonna be.”

Rose took a bite of her sandwich and nodded.  “You and me both.  Who could I possibly be matched with whose eyes change colors?”

“Maybe he’s a shapeshifter,” Shireen said, grinning. “There’s no other solution.”

Rose wrinkled her nose, “There has to be a good reason for it.  A reason that he would be… LIke that.  Changing.”  She was almost lost in that thought for a moment, if Mickey’s snarky voice hadn’t drawn her back out of it.  

“Well, Rose, when you find out, let us know,” Mickey said, looking at her as though he didn’t quite believe her.  She frowned, only because she knew he would never believe her, even as the evidence of her ever changing eye looked at him 

Rose spent her high school career looking for her soulmate.  When he didn’t arrive after Keisha’s and Shireen’s did as well, she grew fed up and ran off with Jimmy Stone, who had no soulmate at all.  It felt selfish at the time, her ‘stealing’ Jimmy from a girl who didn’t have a soulmate.  But after he cheated on her, took all her money, and left the country, she realized that maybe she should just wait on her soulmate. 

“I want to go out with you,” were the worst words that Rose heard come from Mickey’s mouth. She cringed when he said it. 

“What?”

“I mean… our soulmates haven’t turned up,” he said, “It only seems practical, right?”  

She frowned, “So you want to date because it’s practical?”

“Yeah.”  He nodded. “And Rose, you must know that I’ve always had… Feelings for you.  And your eye, it’s brown today.”

She frowned. “What color brown?”

“Dark.”

“It’s not my eye color, Micks.  If you were my soulmate, my eye would be… My eye color.  You know that.  It changes when you meet your soulmate.”

He frowned. “But come on, Rose, think about it.  We’d be so good together.”  He reached forward and took her hand.  “Come on.”

Rose looked at him and realized she didn’t have an option.  If her soulmate didn’t turn up by the time she was twenty one, she’d be done for.  And here was Mickey, willing to take it on.  She pulled her hand back from him. 

“I don’t know.”

“Rose.  I think we could be so good together.”

“Micks, I’m still trying to get rid of the debt Jimmy left me with.  When do you think I’d have time for a boyfriend?”  She was running out of excuses and her heart rate was kicking up.  

He frowned, “I’m not a dog, Rose, I wouldn’t need your affection twenty four seven,” he smiled a little. “Just some of the time.”

She shook her head. “Mickey-”

“Just think about it?”  He looked at her, his brows drawn together.  He was looking at her with such an earnest expression, and she wondered if he even got it.  Her eyes were  _ two different colors  _ because she was waiting for her soulmate. His were too, but maybe he just didn’t notice it as much.  She shook her head, knowing that she had to stop this, even though she was thinking about accepting, just so she would have someone to take care of her.  But she was  _ strong,  _ she certainly didn’t need a boyfriend.  She didn’t need Mickey. She didn’t even need her soulmate, but God…. She wanted to have him with her.  Steeling herself, she shook her head at Mickey.

“But- I need to wait. I didn’t wait with Jimmy, and that’s why everything went wrong. I can’t just do what I want anymore, I need to meet my soulmate, and he’s… Mickey I’m sorry, but he’s not you.”

Mickey set his jaw and walked away from her without saying anything at all.  She crossed her arms and walked the other way, wondering if they would ever be friends again. 

****************

Rose and Mickey eventually became friends again, though it was strained and Mickey would not stop asking her to date him.  She was still working out of her debt, struggling the whole way.  Her job was fine, but she was unhappy.  The only joy she got from life was watching her eye change colors, back and forth between greens, browns, and blues.  It was almost exhausting, searching crowds to try and find who it was that matched her, had one of her eyes.  

Jackie was just as perplexed by it as her daughter was, though she tried not to let it show to her daughter. Of course, she wished she could go out and find this strange man and bring him to Rose so that she wouldn’t have to worry about him anymore. 

There was a very fateful day, and it started out like any other day. Rose came out from her bedroom to get ready to go to work, and found her mother sitting at the table eating breakfast. 

“Morning, mum,” Rose said sleepily as she prepared her tea.  

“Look at me?” Jackie asked, and Rose turned around to look at her mum, raising her eyebrow at her. 

“What for?” She asked.

“Wanted to see your eye,” Jackie smiled. “It’s blue today, love.”

Rose smiled tightly and turned back to her tea.  It was getting hard to be confident that she was actually going to  _ find  _ this strange man.  It was almost a painful thought, that maybe she would never find him, maybe this strange man whose eyes changed colors didn’t even exist.  A small part of her brain told her that he had to exist, there was no way that he didn’t.  But what could the circumstances be behind his eyes changing? That wasn’t exactly a normal condition, and even if he had colored contacts, she would still have the color of his natural eyes. It wouldn’t  _ change/ _

She shook it off and finished her tea, going through a very normal routine before she went to work.  

She met Mickey for lunch, and he tried to convince her how good they would be together, and she frowned. 

“Wouldn’t it make you sick?” She finally asked him, “To look in my eyes and know that I belong to somebody else?”

He shook his head.  “Rose, for as long as I’ve known you, you’ve had that eye.  It wouldn’t make any difference to me.”

Rose looked down at her hands.  “It would to me?”

“What?”  
“I said, it would to me,” she said, “I’ve tried to be nice, Micks, but I don’t want to date you.  I want to be with my soulmate.  I wasted time with Jimmy, wasted… Everything. I can’t wait anymore.” 

Mickey shook his head and stood up.  “Suit yourself. But you’re going to be alone, you’re never going to find this guy with changing eyes, Rose, it’s just a fantasy.”

He left her sitting on the edge of the fountain then, and she sat there, staring after him.  Part of her wanted to think that he was right, that this man didn’t exist… But part of her knew deep inside herself that she wasn’t making a mistake.  This man existed.

**********************

“Wilson?  Wilson?”  She walked down to the basement, and it was all pandemonium from there. Shop dummies, locked doors, a call for the prank to stop.

“Derek, is this you?” She felt anger rising at her coworker.  Soon enough, she found herself backed into a corner with all the animated dummies lifting their hands as if to strike.  She closed her eyes tight and braced for the blow she knew was coming when a cool hand wrapped around hers. 

That hand sent a jolt through her, unlike anything she had ever felt before, and she gasped, looking into the stunningly blue eyes of the person holding her hand.

One of his eyes, which were staring into hers, seemed to be shifting  _ back  _ to blue.  From brown.

She opened her mouth to say something, to scream, to cry out in joy, but before she could say anything, he told her, “Run!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this took me so long to get out!!! I Wanted it to be perfect, and i'm really happy with how it ended.
> 
> Enjoy!

When the strange man who called himself the Doctor had left her running down the streets of London, she felt her mind reeling.  That was her soulmate?!  That crazed man who was about to-

She turned around and saw her former job explode in firey glory. Rose felt her stomach drop.  That was it, wasn’t it?  She’d finally found her soulmate and she wasn’t even going to get to keep him.  He had to be dead, there was no way he’d survived.  With a heavy heart her shoulders dropped and she headed home.

What she wasn’t expecting was for the man to show up at her house later.  Rose’s jaw dropped when she saw him and she blurted out, “What?”

‘What are you doing here?” he demanded.

She frowned, surprised at his reaction. “I live here.”  
“What do you do that for?”  He furrowed his brows and she replied quickly.

“Cause I do!”

He tried to excuse himself then, tried to get away, but her heart sped up in panic.  She couldn’t let him go this easily, she really couldn’t.  She grabbed his arm.  “You’re not going anywhere, mister! You have a lot of explaining to do.”

She expected him to fight her, but he let her pull him into the flat.  She didn’t let go of his leather jacket, still afraid that he would bolt the second she did.  He stumbled after her until she sat him down at their kitchen table.

“Right then!” She crossed her arms, standing over him. “So you blow up my job, not bothering to tell me that you’re my _bloody soulmate,_ and then what?  What were you planning on?”  
He blanched. “What?”

“Your eye,” she said, softer now. “My eye was that color.  Actually, it’s been a lot of colors.  But when I met you, it faded.  And I saw that yours did too.”

He made a noise in the back of his throat.  “What?”  He got to his feet, cupping her face in large hands and turning her to face the window. He was studying her intently, and she watched him, afraid he would run away. His blue eyes bored into her and he smiled after a few moments.

“Yep,” he said,” The exact shade of brown that I’ve carried for my  _ very  _ long life.”  he let go of her. “Brilliant to meet you. Now, if you’ve got a plastic arm around here, I’ll just take it and go.”

Rose’s mouth dropped open. “What?” 

He repeated what he said and she shook her head.  She couldn’t believe what he was saying, and she didn’t  _ want  _ to believe him.

“Why are you leaving?”

“Well, I can’t stay here.”

“But you’re-” she stopped and took a shuddering breath.  “I- I’ve been waiting for you my whole life.  I want to know-”

“Rose,” he shook his head, and her heart stuttered at the fact that he’d remembered her name.  “I don’t do domestic.  I’m not the man you think I am, I’m not the sort of man to marry.  Now, it was  _ very  _ nice to meet you, but I do think that I need to get going.”

She grabbed him by the front of his jumper. “So you’d leave me here, without even getting to know me?  What, are you afraid?”  
There was something in his eyes she didn’t know how to name, a spark that she knew tied them together in a way. 

“I’m not afraid of anything, Rose-”

“Tyler,” She crossed her arms over her chest and tilted her chin at him. “Rose Tyler.  And you would do well to remember it, considering I’m your soulmate.”

“And what do you suggest I do?”  The Doctor furrowed his brows. “I am far too old for you, and you don’t know me at all.”

She saw something in his eyes that showed that perhaps he was interested in her.  She released his jumper. “I’m not afraid of you,” she said, “You saved my life.  How could I fear you?  And I’m not afraid of your age.”

The Doctor took her hand from the front of his jumper and held it in both of his. “You would do well to forget me, Rose Tyler.  You really would.”

“But I won’t.”  
‘No,” he said softly, “I suppose you won’t.”  He turned away and she realized she couldn’t let him go. 

“At least let me come with you.  You’re after whatever blew up my job, yeah?”

He blinked, obviously not expecting her to say something like that.  He turned back to her.  “You won’t like what it is.”

She shook her head. “I don’t care. I deserve to know.”

And that started their incredible adventure.  He took her downstairs and showed her the plastic arm he had, and what he thought it might be.  To his surprise, Rose accepted the idea of aliens wholeheartedly, seeming very interested.

“Well, I’ve got somewhere we can take them on,” he said cautiously, and led her to a blue police box.  She stared at him.  

“What?”   
“Just go in.”

She stood still for a moment before pushing open the door.  Her jaw dropped and she walked into the box, which was-

“S’bigger on the inside.”.

“Yes it is,” The Doctor said, coming in behind her.  He shut the doors and leaned against them, crossing his arms with a creak of leather.  “This is the TARDIS, Time and Relative Dimension in Space.  Like it?”

She tugged her hoodie sleeves over her hands and fidgeted nervously. “Is it alien?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Are… You an alien?”

“Yes, I am.  Is that alright?”

She surprised even herself by smiling widely.  “Yeah,” She said softly, “That’s fine.”

“Is it though?” He asked.  “You know, I tried to get away from you but you wouldn’t let me.”  He started up the ramp, watching her carefully, not getting too close.

“It’s okay,” she whispered, “You’re my soulmate.”

He smiled a little and nodded. “Yes, I am,” he said, “But it’s not too late to turn back.  I’m 900 years old, Rose, far too old for someone like you.”

She felt so drawn to him, so attached already, that she couldn’t stop herself from stepping forward and wrapping her arms around his waist.  He made an odd sound of surprise and then wrapped his arms around her back, his touch tentative. 

“I don’t mind,” She said, “Why should I?  You’re meant for me, and I’m meant for you, age differences be damned.”

He laughed. “Maybe you’re more than I gave you credit for,” he admitted.

************

And that was the first time the Doctor and Rose saved the world together.  Not even as a couple, though that felt terribly right.  She liked running with him, they found, she liked talking to him, and they worked together seamlessly.  They almost didn’t have to talk before they were working together like two pieces of the same machine and he was calling her fantastic.

When the adventure was all over, and Mickey was next to her, still asking her to date him, still saying they could make a go of it, and she shook her head. 

“No,” she whispered, and though she was talking to Mickey she was looking at the Doctor, who was leaning in the doorway to the TARDIS.

“C’mon, Rose, what else are you going to do?” Mickey asked, starting to get angry.

Rose smiled. “He’s my soulmate,” she said finally.  “What else can I do?”

“You’d like to come with me?” The Doctor asked, not daring to hope.  

Rose nodded slowly, “Will you let me come with you?”

He nodded back to her, mimicking her movements.  “If you’d like to come, Rose Tyler, I’d love to have you.”

She beamed and turned to Mickey. “I’m sorry, but I’ve got to,” she said, shaking her head a little.  She turned and ran to the Doctor, who stepped back so she could run past him and into the TARDIS.  She was surprised when he swept her up into a hug, nose buried in her shoulder.  She laughed, completely full of glee, and held onto him, memorizing the feel of leather and wool and the scent of him all around her.  

“Suppose if we’re soulmates I should do this right,” he said when he set her back down on the ground. 

“You want me to be your soulmate, then?” She asked.

“I- Spending time with you today, I never realized how lonely I was,” he said, “And it’s because we’re soulmates that you fit with me so well.”  He raised his hand to her cheek. “Would it be alright if I kissed you?  Just a little one.”

She grinned.  “I’d like that very much.”

After a moment of hesitation he leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. It only lasted a few seconds, could be called little more than a peck, but enough to set Rose’s blood on fire.  He pulled back and looked at her with insecurity in his blue eyes.

“Was that alright?”  
She nodded, smiling.  “Was brilliant.  Now, are you gonna show me the universe or not?”

He nodded, swinging her around and heading to the console. “Of  _ course,  _ Rose Tyler!  Now, where to? Forwards or backwards?”

“How about you just impress me?”  
She couldn’t quite read his eyes, but they were a little misty, even as he was smiling.  “Oh, _fantastic.”_ He flipped a switch and they were off, into a never ending adventure.


End file.
